In the past ten years, we’ve been given two completely different spins on the Hulk interpreted by two completely different actors and orchestrated by two completely different directors. Even though The Avengers follows the same continuity presented in 2008’s The Incredible Hulk, this year will give us our third incarnation of the Jade Giant, portrayed by Mark Ruffalo and directed/written by Joss Whedon.

In an interview with the Wall Street Journal (via CBM), actor Mark Ruffalo revealed exactly what he thinks of Marvel’s Hulk and exactly where The Avengers will find the gargantuan hero.

“I don’t think Bruce Banner’s any longer trying to run from the inevitable, which is his voice, and that’s a kind of maturation that all of us go through,” Mr. Ruffalo says. “At this point, I think he’s ready to turn and face this beast that he’s partially created and try to integrate it into his life and use it for the good that he intended it to be used for.”

“There’s a lot of world-weary charm in the character,” Mr. Ruffalo says, “a lot of sense of humor about himself and where he finds himself. He has this maturation that I think makes him ready to accept whatever his fate may be.”

Ruffalo did more than just talk about his character. With The Avengers as a whole, he said that it’s very easy to draw parallels between this group of superheros and the current status of the United States.

“You have all these disparate egos, superheroes in this and that, and they refuse to give up some of their positions in order to make a more perfect union and to join the team,” Ruffalo says.

“That’s really what the whole movie is about: subjugating your own best interest momentarily to further that of the whole,” he says.

“I didn’t know it a year ago that it was going to speak to so many of the issues we’re having here in the United States and throughout the world, the same kind of theme,” he says.

“These movies reach a lot of people, they’re our modern mythology,” Ruffalo says. He followed comic book superheroes as a kid. “I think a lot of the beliefs I have and cherish were fostered by the decency of our superheroes, and what they were about and what they were fighting for.”

Ruffalo said when he learned he got the role in “The Avengers,” he bought a boxed set of the series for himself and his 10-year-old son. “He was completely addicted. He totally got it,” Ruffalo says. “After the first episode he turned to me and said, “Papa, he’s so misunderstood!’”

So what do you think? Will Ruffalo’s take on the Hulk be the most accurate yet? How about his Bruce Banner? The Banner from the comics is known for his self-depreciating humor (which we noted is present in Ruffalo’s brief moments in the trailer), so how will the two performances meld together?